Aspire 5100 doesn't boot unless physical force is used

Alright so my laptop won't boot - When it gets to the Vista loading bar it just kind of keep loading forever without any HDD activity after a minute or so. If I smack, violently shake or simply move the machine around then it sometimes works.

This is the only computer I have and I desperately need it for school work, if anyone has any solutions it would be great.

PC is a notebook (Acer Aspire 5100) with Vista Home Premium SP1, currently running with a "Resource Conflict" error (making the internet inaccessble, so I bought a USB to wireless stick).

 

Hm. The resource conflict means that two or more of your devices are trying to use the same IRQ. Try reinstalling the drivers for these devices.

For the HDD..sounds like it "shit the bed". Does it make any loud noises when it spins up? You should never physically hit any electronic device..

I would say your best bet is to replace the hard drive and use some sort of data recovery software to retrieve and backup your work.